Historical reference: Do not rely on this information. It is very old. About this collection
Furze, Gorse, or Whin, the popular names of the small genus Vhx, belonging to the order Leguminosae. They are much-branched, very spinous plants, with axillary, sweet-scented, yellow flowers, which have a bilabiate calyx, and with swollen, few-seeded pods, which burst elastically when ripe. They occur on heaths on a clay or sandy soil, or even on shingle, from Denmark to Italy, and the larger species, If. europcvus. often forms a characteristic feature in English landscape. A double-flowered form is grown in gardens. The tough woody stem is used for making walking-sticks; and the shoots, if the plant is cut down, when bruised, form a fodder of which cattle are fond. The plant contains a powerfully purgative alkaloid, known as u lex inc.